[1] Del McCoury Band. [2] Super Bad teases from Trey. [3] Unfinished. [4] Cat Scratch Fever teases. [5] Narration featured Trey rambling about the negative aspects of television and the positive aspects of books. Miss You tease. [6] Accompanied by fireworks.
Notes: This was the second show of the Camp Oswego festival. Back on the Train through Beauty of My Dreams featured a guest appearance by the Del McCoury Band, who had played on the venue’s side stage. During I’m Blue I’m Lonesome, Del McCoury broke a string, and a bluegrass breakdown ensued while the string was changed. Runaway Jim contained Super Bad teases from Trey. During Meatstick, the crowd tried to break the world record for most people dancing at one time. Trey explained the record that the band was trying to break while Sofi Dillof danced on stage and the Guinness staff videotaped the crowd. Part of the Piper intro was used on the studio Piper released on Farmhouse. Caspian was unfinished. Some musical chaos ensued between Catapult and Icculus (first since October 31, 1995, or 262 shows), where Trey rambled about the negative aspects of television and the positive aspects of books. The ensuing Smoke on the Water Jam included Cat Scratch Fever teases. Subsequently, Icculus was followed by more narration and a tease of Miss You. The show closed with fireworks during Hood.
BOTH nights of Oswego are musically phenomenal. I think I liked night one better, but night two had some distinct highlights that are worth mentioning.
The Piper is a strong contender for best version.
The Runaway Jim absolutely IS the best version, imo.
And the Icculus MADNESS, Quinn, Fluff closer to set three was monstrous.
Both Oswego shows rank high on my favorite show list.
If you haven't heard this show yet, track it down and give it a listen.
Quick note - I'm still not entirely sure how the last review on this page made it to this page, let alone the Phish Companion. I mean, I get what the person's trying to say, but it managed to neither sum up the experience of being there experience nor the music being played...and you kind of need to do one or the other when you're reviewing a show. No wonder it's carrying a hefty -11 rating.
Set 1: The first big moment comes in the Gin, which settles into an uptempo, Page-driven groove that you can dance to in the living room if that's your sort of thing; it's a different beast from the Went Gin, less heavenly rockout and more 2001-esque dance party. The Del McCoury section is a lot of fun (especially the bluegrass breakdown after I'm Blue), with Phish's respect for them palpable throughout, and the BOTT the highlight. The other highlight of the set is the Chalk Dust, which steps out for a glorious jam that gives us some nice tension and release.
Set 2: Jim starts things off, and it soon drops into dark territory, Trey getting off some growling guitar work, the band whipping up an almost tribal rhythm behind him. Then the jam suddenly shifts into fifth gear, while still retaining its dark demeanor, peaking superbly with about 5 minutes to go before going even darker, Page playing some monster movie soundtrack piano notes, which allows Free to perfectly sneak in. The Free jam is almost metallic; it's pounding without being ponderous (well, maybe a tad ponderous). The rest of the set's of no particular interest.
Set 3: The Piper here starts off full of fury, then gets more rhythmic and funky (a bit like the earlier Gin), an exciting and sharp jam that brims with controlled energy before the energy ratchets down and Prince Caspian starts up. Caspian and Wilson, but then Wilson grows menacing, and then they start up Catapult. Trey goes on about the Meatstick dance thing, then starts lecturing about books versus television, brings up heavy metal (leading into a fun Smoke on the Water jam and even more fun comparison with Cat Scratch Fever), and then finally gives us a proper Icculus narration (but not before Fish throws out Miss You, leading to a jam on *that* for a few measures). Quinn's a nice bustout (although Trey incorrectly calls it a Dylan song - well, it IS, but - ah, never mind), and Fluffhead ends an odd set, to say the least.
Encore: Thumbs up, although a step down from last year's Hood.
Final thoughts: Night one has some good moments, but my socks stayed firmly on all throughout. Night two...jeez. The Gin, Piper, and Jim are all strong jams (especially the Gin), but they're isolated in otherwise unspectacular sets (although the bluegrass really is charming and worth hearing); the Icculus stuff is fun but the replay value is not all that high. I'd say both shows are worth the listen once, but you can pluck out the best jams and safely discard the rest.
This would be my first weekend with Phish. It was a hot one baking on the runway. I had no major expectations of the music-take what comes at me.
I remember enjoying myself thoroughly throughout the weekend. There are few things I enjoyed on day 2: Runaway Jim was a monster, Piper was quite nice, happy with the only Catapult & Icculus I've ever seen and the Hood encore sent me home happy.
These are not the only things that made that weekend great for me but they helped. The whole experience had me hooked. I consider it a pretty good festival after over a decade later and a few more festivals under my belt. They set the standard for me and it's hard for anyone else to meet those expectations. I have seen some truly great shows but still hold this one with them because it was my first and nothing before it could have prepared me for what this band could do with the music live (bootlegs help but do not tell the whole story).
Looking back at this weekend of PHISH, I recall Africa hot days, climbing under my car to sleep, stumbling around at night, and bizarre music. It was the most successful Phish festival I had been to because I had three under my belt. Everyone did. No more parking on the runway, get to the grass. Don't bring a shit ton of food when delicious offerings are just a walk and a few dollars away. We knew less was more as far as how much stuff you had to bring, cause you could get anything you needed in the makeshift economy that sprang up.
I was trashed beyond belief at these shows, and so was the band. Not smart. I think they'd agree as well, because they haven't exactly released this one for the people to re-live. It was decadent and sloppy. Listening to it now, I'd turn it off, at least parts. Besides a few clean winners, the excess of this show-in regards to jamming, drug use, sloppiness, and showmanship- is just too much to take. One of their worst shows ever.
I had a blast though and would do it again in a second. oh yeah!
Why is it that everything seems the same after a while? Same nine to five job. Same people. Same roads. Same trees. Same band.
What was that last festival? The Great Lemon Ball? Oh, whatever…they all blend together after awhile. Same people, same scenery…but the same improv?! Ahh…the best part about this band is that they never play the same exact thing twice. For better or for worse, as much as the people are the same, the band is the same, the scenery is the same, the food is the same, the life away from the scene is the same, at least there is one redeeming quality.
Though they disappoint us sometimes, the last set on the second say of Oswego was phenomenal and worth waiting through three days of one hundred degree sweltering heat. And then we left in the middle of it.
